The Bostonians is a novel written by Henry James. It was first published as a serial in The Century Magazine from 1885 to 1886 and later as a book in 1886. This story, which has both sad and funny parts, focuses on three main characters: Basil Ransom, a political conservative from Mississippi; Olive Chancellor, Ransom's cousin and a Boston feminist; and Verena Tarrant, a young, attractive student of Olive's in the feminist movement. The plot follows the conflict between Ransom and Olive over Verena's loyalty and affection. The novel also includes many other characters, such as political activists, newspaper workers, and unusual people.

Publication

Henry James made a deal with the Boston publisher James R. Osgood & Co. to publish the book in the United States for $4,000. Osgood also made a separate deal with The Century magazine to serialize the novel in parts over time. In May 1885, before the serialization was completed and before James received any of the money owed, Osgood's company went out of business. James later recovered some of the lost money by selling the book's copyright to Macmillan and Co. Macmillan published The Bostonians in a three-volume edition in Britain in February 1886 and in a one-volume edition in the United States in May 1886. However, James did not receive any money for the serialization of the novel in The Century.

Synopsis

When Basil Ransom, a Mississippi lawyer and Confederate Civil War veteran, visits his wealthy cousin Olive Chancellor in Boston, she unwillingly takes him to a political meeting where Verena Tarrant gives a speech about women's rights. Ransom, who holds strong conservative views, is annoyed by the speech but becomes interested in Verena. Olive, who has never met Verena before, is also intrigued. She convinces Verena to leave her parents' home, move in with her, and prepare for a career in the feminist movement. Meanwhile, Ransom returns to his law practice in New York, which is struggling financially. Still interested in Verena, he visits Boston again, goes to Cambridge where she is visiting her parents, and walks with her on the grounds of Harvard College, including the Civil War Memorial Hall. Verena becomes drawn to Ransom's charm but does not tell him that she agrees to keep their meeting a secret from Olive, who strongly dislikes Ransom and fears he might separate them.

Olive helps Verena prepare to speak publicly about feminism and women's independence from men. She accepts an invitation to speak in New York to a group of wealthy women hosted by Mrs. Burrage, a very rich society woman whose son, Henry, had previously asked Verena to marry him but was rejected. At Verena's request, Basil Ransom is invited to the event. When Olive learns that Verena arranged for Basil to attend and that he sent her a letter, she worries he might take Verena away. After the meeting, Olive and Verena find two notes: one from Basil asking for time with Verena and another from Mrs. Burrage inviting Olive to a private conversation. During her meeting with Mrs. Burrage, Olive learns that Mrs. Burrage is acting on her son's behalf, who still wants to marry Verena. Though Olive dislikes men and wants to protect Verena, she considers supporting Mrs. Burrage's plan. However, when Olive returns to their temporary home, she discovers Verena has gone for a walk with Basil. During their walk, Basil argues that women should not have the right to vote or equal legal rights because their proper role is as wives and mothers. Though impressed by Basil's personality, Verena is shocked by his views and runs to Olive, crying, begging to leave New York and return to Boston immediately.

Later, Olive and Verena take a summer vacation in "Marmion," a fictional seaside town in Cape Cod, where Verena prepares for her first major public speech about feminism. Olive hires an agent and rents the Boston Music Hall for the event. When Basil arrives in Marmion, he tells Verena he now feels ready to ask her to marry him because an article sharing his conservative views is about to be published. Verena is drawn to him, but the death of Miss Birdseye, a friend and reformer who lived with them, causes Verena to flee again. Unable to abandon Miss Birdseye's ideals or hurt Olive, Verena hides to avoid Basil.

The story reaches its climax at the Boston Music Hall. Before Verena gives her speech, she sees Basil in the audience and refuses to perform. Despite a policeman guarding the backstage door, Basil enters and convinces Verena to run away with him, causing Olive and other feminists to feel distressed. The final sentence of the novel shows Verena crying—not the last time, the narrator notes.

Themes

The novel The Bostonians by Henry James focuses on political topics, such as feminism and the role of women in society. James had mixed feelings about the feminist movement. In a letter dated April 6, 1909, he wrote to a friend who supported women's right to vote: "I am not eager for the arrival of a large and powerful female voting group—and I don’t see how any reasonable man could be." Another theme in the book is Olive’s possible attraction to Verena, which some readers believe may be lesbian. At the time, the term "Boston marriage" described a long-term, unclear relationship between two women that was not openly discussed. James did not clearly explain this relationship because of the social norms of his era. This lack of clarity may help readers think about Olive’s actions in different ways.

Readers disagree about how to interpret the characters. Some believe that as Ransom grows closer to winning Verena, he becomes less sympathetic, while others think he remains unchanged. Some readers also believe Olive becomes more sympathetic in later chapters as she loses Verena, while others think she only watches her suffer. Some compare Olive’s painful realization of her situation to a scene in Henry James’s novel The Portrait of a Lady, where a character reflects deeply on her life, while others do not see the connection.

The main characters are surrounded by other people who want to change society, reporters who are skeptical, and individuals who act in secretive or harmful ways.

The title of the book refers not to the people of Boston in general, but to Olive and Verena, as they appear to Ransom, a man from the South who lives in New York and views them as an outsider.

Critical evaluation

The novel The Bostonians was not well received by critics in its time, particularly in North America. Henry James once wrote that the book had "never, even to my much-disciplined patience, received any sort of justice." Critics argued that James's portrayal of Boston reformers was incorrect and unfair, as some believed he had mocked real people in the story. When the novel first appeared in Century Magazine in 1885, many people in Boston were upset.

Horace Scudder reviewed the book in 1886 and said James unfairly treated characters he disliked, even though he had shown interest in them. Mark Twain wrote that he would prefer to be sent to heaven by John Bunyan than read the book. In the same letter, Twain also criticized the works of George Eliot and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Albert Bigelow Paine noted that Mark Twain enjoyed Indian Summer but disliked Daniel Deronda and The Bostonians, as he preferred writing that was simple and direct.

Rebecca West, in her biography of Henry James, described the book as "a foolish song set to a good tune" because it failed to fully succeed. She praised its language and themes but believed its political ideas were forced and unnecessary. She thought James's focus on politics unintentionally took attention away from the main message of the story.

Later critics, though some found the novel's slow pace and long length challenging, praised James's portrayal of the conflict over Verena and his depiction of feminist and reform movements. Edmund Wilson wrote in 1938 that the first hundred pages of the novel, which introduce a young Southerner arriving in Boston, were among Henry James's finest works. The quiet struggle between Olive Chancellor and Basil Ransom is now seen as more relevant today, as it reflects historical struggles that shaped modern America.

F.R. Leavis called The Bostonians "one of the two most brilliant novels in the language," the other being The Portrait of a Lady. He described it as "wonderfully rich, intelligent, and brilliant," noting that only James could have written it.

Henry James regretted how The Bostonians and The Princess Casamassima (published the same year) affected his reputation with critics. While he did not abandon political themes entirely, he never again made them as central to his stories.

According to Henry James's Notebooks, the idea for The Bostonians came from Alphonse Daudet's novel The Evangelist, which also tells the story of an older woman who influences a younger woman to support her cause—religion, rather than suffrage.

Film version

The film The Bostonians was made in 1984 by the Merchant Ivory team, which included director James Ivory, producer Ismail Merchant, and writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The main actors were Christopher Reeve, Vanessa Redgrave, and Madeleine Potter.

The movie received positive reviews, with an 81% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Vanessa Redgrave’s acting was highly praised, and she received nominations for the 1984 Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Actress. The film also earned nominations for its costume design and cinematography.

In 2005, an independent drama film called The Californians was released. It is a more modern version of the same story.

Cultural references

In the story The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a young Olive Chancellor appears as a character. Because of her strong beliefs in women's rights, she faces an embarrassing punishment in this story. The scene shows Olive being sent to a place called the "Correctional Academy for Wayward Women." There, a strict teacher named Ms. Katy Carr punishes Olive by tapping her bottom with a cane. Another student holds Olive down during the punishment, saying they will stop Olive from acting independently. Olive begs for kindness during the event.